Sir Elton John & Laban Roomes Bring Us Blinged Out iPods That Benefit AIDS Awareness

Laban Roomes of Goldgenie and Sir Elton John have collaborated to bring us Swarovski Crystal Starburst studded iPods ( limited to 100 of each color) to raise awareness and funds for the Elton John AIDS Foundation.



Above: Laban Roomes of Goldgenie.

They are available not only in 8 gig, but also in 16 gig. There will be just 100 of each colour /color (black, blue, green, orange, pink, purple, red, silver and yellow) and are available from, Selfridges or directly from Goldgenie Laboratories. As an extra bonus, Goldgenie are including "Rocket Man: The Definitive Hits CD" with every order.





The original iconic players are individually set with over 250 colour-coordinated Swarovski crystals and laser engraved with Elton John’s signature on the rear harnessing the very latest technology. They are backed by a full year’s guarantee.



By purchasing one of these, you will also benefit the many HIV/AIDS programms across 15 countries and 4 continents funded by EJAF.



This non-profit organization will receive at least 12.5% of the purchase price (ex VAT) to help their many projects. The charity was established by Sir Elton John in 1993 to help those living with, affected by or at risk from HIV/AIDS. You can see further information on the charity and it’s work on their website at www.ejaf.com.

Pre-order yours now here.

A Magical Villa For VilaSofa's Amsterdam Store

A Magical Villa for VilaSofa


Tjep. was commissioned to create a shop environment for a new furniture brand called VilaSofa in Amsterdam. The result is a large playful warehouse.



VilaSofa is positioned between a conventional furniture shop and IKEA in terms of delivery speed. It offers mid-range prices for a wide public and a 48 hour delivery guarantee for all displayed models. The 48 hour claim became the main theme for the shop. They used the idea of a warehouse as metaphor for speed: a place were goods are stored for the transition from the producer to the very personal environment of your home.





The conceptual solution was surprisingly simple and logic: a combination of warehouse aesthetics and home aesthetics. This resulted for example into materials such as plywood usually used for crates combined with high-end glossy finishes. The symbols used in transportation and packaging have been metamorphosed into decorative elements that form room dividers, arranged to organize the space and routing.



Finally there is a big wall suggesting the idea of a magical villa. Is the customer looking at a giant styrofoam packaging element, or is the construction itself the actual villa? They see cavities for a big chandelier, a diversity of playfully arranged windows, romantic balconies, paintings etc... In this space they placed big 'picnic' tables where clients can take their time to inform about the product, talk to the VilaSofa staff.





Design team:
Frank Tjepkema, Janneke Hooymans, Leonie Janssen, Tina Stieger, Bertrand Gravier, Camille Cortet

Production:
Kloosterboer

VilaSofa's site
Tjep site

Monkeys And Dogs And Bears. Oh My!

Jill Greenberg's amazing animal portraits are so expressive, I simply had to share a few of her enormous series with you. I say 'enormous' because she literally has over 80 portraits of monkeys to her credit, 40 portraits of bears (Ursine) and tons of dog portraits. I wish I could have shared them all with you, but it'd take about an hour to download. So, instead, I've chosen a few of my favorites from her prolific series of work.

As you will see below, she gets more personality from the faces of animals than most photographers do from people.

Monkeys:







Dogs:





.. and this beautiful one is Jill's own dog, Scooter:


Bears:









If you love these shots as much as I do, you'll be happy to know that she has publications of both the Monkeys (available on Amazon) and The Bears (Ursine) available directly from the Clampart gallery which sells several of her stunning prints from the Ursine series as well.




Jill and friend:


How does she do it? Well, here you can read an interview with the photographer about her animal portraits by Rosecrans Baldwin for The Morning News

Jill is a hugely successful photographer who uses digital manipulation, illustration and more in her craft. She has shot a lot for the entertainment industry, fashion, celebrity portraits and more. She has won many industry awards and continues to expand her portfolio. Visit her website here.


Above: just some of Jill's work

Greenberg was born in 1967 in Montreal, Canada. She graduated in 1989 from the Rhode Island School of Design and moved to New York City, where she was based until 2000. She now lives in Los Angeles with her family.

The "Fun"ctional art of Nicola L. Whimsical Aquariums & Furniture

French born Nicola L. (that's right, just an L. for the last name) is a conceptual artist who creates everything from performances, films and functional art. Having had a hugely prolific career for over five decades, she has shown in many galleries and has a clear affinity for heads, eyes and snails as you can see from some of her functional art pieces I've chosen to share with you below. Some of the following pieces were created as editions and may still be available for purchase via the galleries listed at the end of this post.

Heads:


above: plexi head fish tank

above: head aquarium and bar

above: detail

above: head library

above: wooden head bookcase

above: green head sofa

above: white vinyl head sofa

above: little heads tables

above: plexi head planter

above: giant head fountain

above: little fire head

above: giant fire head

above: the 12 faces rug

Eyes:

above: plexi eye ceiling lamp

above: Glass eye coffee table

above: large plexi eye wall lamp

above: plexi eye wall lights and lips floor lamp

Snails:

above: snail birdcage

above: blue snail sofa

above: snail wardrobe cabinet

above: snail table on snail rug

above: snail bed reflected in snail mirror

The artist:


A bit about her:
In the thirty years since her first exhibitions, Nicola L. has returned to the body on numerous occasions, producing extremely limited editions of lamps, see-through planters, aquariums, storage containers, tables, and her famous "Femme Commode" and "Femme Coffre Fort".

She had her first show at Daniel Templon Gallery Paris in 1969, followed by many exhibitions in european galleries and museums, with also a show in New York at Wadell Gallery in 1973. She moved to New York in 1979 where her functional work was featured between 1986 and 2004 in numerous galleries including: Alan Moss, Vrej Baghoomian, Peder Bonier, Wooster Projects and also recently at Twentieth Gallery in L.A. She is currently showing her work at Galerie Patricia Dorfmann, Galerie Pierre Alain Challier, and Galerie Catberro in Paris. Her last show in New York City was a retrospective at Ingrao Gallery in 2006.

Nicola’s work is frequently featured in auctions at Christie's, Sotheby's, and Bonhams & Butterfield. Her work is part of the permanent collections of the Museum of Beaubourg, Antwerpen Museum of Contemporary Art, The Museum of Modern Art of Glasgow, The Collection of The Frac Bretagne and many private American and European collections.



Recently, in 2008 she has had two shows in Paris, in April and May 2008, respectively, "Planet Eye" at Galerie Pierre Alain Challier, and "Functional Art 1989-2008" at Galerie Catberro, Paris.


above: THE RED COAT FOR 11 PEOPLE (1969) Last performance for Canal Plus+ at Galerie Favardin de Verneuil, Paris, Sept. 30th 2008

She is also continuing the performance with The Blue Cape, named now "The Blue Cape Of Human Rights".

The Book:



Buy it here


Learn more about Nicola here and see more of her work here.

A Lovingly Crafted Film To Celebrate Books. Can You Say Irony?

Despite the bizarre irony that a book publishing company is celebrating their 25th anniversary with something you watch (a film execution) in lieu of something you read (an actual book), this little animated short is lovingly crafted and fun to watch.



Created by Apt Studio and Asylum Films to celebrate 4th Estate Publishers' 25th Anniversary, this stop-motion film animates a world in which books ultimately reign. Produced over a three-week period last autumn, each scene was shot on a home-made dolly by -- as they like to call themselves -- an 'insane bunch of animators'.

A London-based imprint of the Harper Collins publishing house, the 4th Estate are known for releasing well-selected and beautifully covered titles such as Isabel Allende’s The Sum of Our Days and Half of a Yellow Sun by Orange Broadband prize-winner Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie in recent years. Interestingly enough, the term fourth estate actually refers to the press, going back to the first half of the 19th century when there were 'estates of the realm' dividing European society in the Middle Ages.

here are a few beautiful stills for you:





and a peek at just some of the very hard work that goes into something like this:








and now, the final product:




Directed, produced and edited by Apt Studios and Asylum Films.

credits:
Producers: Peter Collingridge, James Bridle
For Asylum:
Directors: Ben Falk, Josiah Newbolt
Producer: Phil Vanier
Editor: Josiah Newbolt
Director of Photography: Ben Falk
Lighting Technician: Max McGill
Production Designer: Philippa Culpepper
Supervising Animators: Jordan Wood, Mickey Bignell
Animators: Susie Jones, Alex Major
Model Makers: Isabella Rising, Ed Arthur, Max McGill, Matt Williams, Georgina Ferguson, Rebecca Ford, Jake Snellin, Adam Beautement, John Lush, Henry Culpepper, Sally Langford, Willa Culpepper, Rachel Mcintyre, Alex Burr
Post Production: Liam O’Connor, Christian Sturm
Music: Mike Chalmers aka Actionfist
Sound Design: Josiah Newbolt, Phil Vanier
Special Thanks: John Lyons

Make No Bones About It, Stephen Einhorn Is Much More Than A Jeweler.

We've all seen the large amount of Goth skull jewelry out there. And Stephen Einhorn of the UK is yet another who creates jewellery collections which include skulls of all types. But he also makes high end skull and bone items for the home that include water taps, ashtrays, corkscrews, even egg cups. In addition to those objects, he makes fire pits, candle cards and more.

Below are the water taps (or faucets, as we call them in the US). Although you will love them and want to get them for your home, they are made in conjunction with with Barber Wilson's & Company Ltd and therefore ONLY fit onto their taps & fittings. The taps are available in brass or chrome and can be customized with colored Swarovski Crystal eyes.


Above: his hand cast taps start at $332.00 USD



above: Brass drain overflow for tub, prices start at $240.00 USD

For customers outside the UK you can contact Barber Wilson for information on their faucets via export@barwil.co.uk or telephone/fax +44 20 88 88 91 88. Barber Wilson also has distributors in the USA and Germany. If you already own a set of Barber Wilson taps/faucets, you can remove the existing heads and easily replace them with their Capstan Heads.

Other skull items for the home include the following;

above: The skull head ashtray is available in solid sterling silver or gold. Price start at $904.00 USD

above: Solid sterling silver skull head egg cups starting at $904.00 (also available in gold)

Above: skull corkscrew complete with Swarovski eyes. Chrome plated brass. Priced at $225.00 USD

His products range from jewelry to bathroom taps, from his 'nail stools' to his patented Candle Cards. Everything has been designed by him and manufactured in his London workshops.

His patented Candle Cards:


His Fang cufflinks are available in gold or silver:


His "fire gardens" resemble mini Stone Henge's complete with pewter skeletons:


Gothic Fire Garden prices start at $107.00 USD

Abother unique aspect of Stephen's work worth noting is his "breakable" packaging, a wonderful way to give a gift on Valentine's Day. A painted plaster Heart is created around the jewelry one can 'bust' open to discover the gift inside.






About the designer:


Stephen Einhorn himself designs the core product range, as well as custom making a large number of bespoke commissions for individual customers. Everything is hand made. Their shop and workshops are in Islington, London. All the items shown in this post are available either through the Stephen Einhorn Shop and Showroom at 210 Upper Street, Islington, N1 1RL or worldwide through this secure online shop.

If you aren't familiar with his jewellery, it's definitely something you should see. In addition to his large selection of engagement and wedding rings, he has several collections for men and women that include fine jewelry of real gold and sterling silver. The collections range from tattoo-inspired pieces, goth, rock n' roll, hearts, and more.



Stephen Einhorn Ltd
210 Upper Street
Islington, London
N1 1RL.
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7359 4977

New Star Trek Merchandise Coming To You At Warp Speed

Pictures of Mattel’s new Star Trek Barbies were released on Wednesday causing a stir among Trekkies, eagerly anticipating Paramount’s May release of the film, “Star Trek,” chronicling the earliest days of Captain Kirk and Spock.



The toys’ images, released by CBS Consumer Products, which owns the licensing rights for Star Trek consumer products, show the three dolls, which are modeled after the three actors playing Captain Kirk, Spock, and Lieutenant Uhura in the film, which is set to be released in theaters on May 8th.


above: The Mattel Star Trek Barbie packaging may change before release

Below are still from the upcoming film, where you can see the actors after whom the dolls are modeled; Chris Pine as Kirk, Zachary Quinto as Spock and Zoe Saldana as Lt. Uhura:

The dolls will hit shelves in April (psst... you can pre-order them here now), over a decade after Mattel released a Barbie and Ken Star Trek themed collectible set in 1996 (shown below) to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the cult hit TV show.

above: Unlike the new line made to resemble the actors, the 1996 set features Barbie and Ken themselves dressed as original series characters.

Pre-Order the Star Trek Barbie Collection here now

The upcoming release of the new film is bringing out tons of fabulous merchandising, new AND retro. Here's some pics of yet to be released Star Trek items from Playmates:


above: the Command Collection figures include Original Spock, left, McCoy, Kirk, young Spock and Nero.




Pre-order them here!


Star Trek Pez depicts the original crew of Star Trek The Original Series in a gift set including eight dispensers and candy in assorted flavors. The dispensers included depict the original crew (Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scotty, Uhura, Sulu, and Chekov), plus the NCC-1701 Enterprise. The people at Pez Candy Inc. claim that the Enterprise is unique for Pez as it depicts a ’scene’ (a Pez first), where you see the ship emerging from a nebula cloud.




The set has a limited run of only 250,000, so they may go fast. Each box has a special numbered sticker as well. The complete Limited Edition Star Trek Pez Collectors Gift Set costs around $20. You can find it here at Amazon.

If you're a movie poster collector, this one is nicely designed:


Buy it here.

And full sized replica of Captain Kirk's chair will be available for $2199.99 this coming May (yep, I swear it's true):

pre-order it here.

find Star Trek collectibles, exclusives and more here


Star Trek Movie official site

Kanye Does Kicks For Louis Vuitton & His Live From Paris Message

PARIS — Marc Jacobs and the Louis Vuitton men’s studio director Paul Helbers have some design competition this season. Kanye West, who was sitting front row at the Vuitton show, has designed a line of five LV sneakers. Only one design was featured in the show —(the red one shown above) a monochromatic midtop with no frills, save for a quilted flap in the back, all the easier to tuck pants into.






Above: kanye's shoe on the runway show in Paris

“The inspiration came from a jacket with a huge collar in the movie ‘Dune,’ ” West says. “Most sneakers focus on the tongue, so I wanted to do something different.” West knows whereof he speaks: he says he has no idea how many shoes he owns, but he does know that he routinely needs to send shipments off to storage. The LV-meets-Kanye kicks will be available at Louis Vuitton stores in June.

Here's a look at a few of the others:

above: kanye shows off his Loafer for LV on his own blog.


Above: Another of the shoe designs


Above: Kanye and Marc show off the kicks at the Paris Runway show

Here's a video message from Kanye himself about the collection, just posted today:


On his own blog today, kanye put up some pics of LV shoes for ladies:





I do not know when or if the women's shoes are going into production, but will be sure to keep you posted!

Here's an interview with kanye about the collaboration, read it here.

UPDATE: the shoes drop tomorrow, here's the final line up, all the photos and the prices!

Maison Martin Margiela Men's RTW Fall 2009 Collection Is Criminal

The latest men's collection from MMM is criminal. Or at least the collection appears that way. Clever fashion designer Martin Margiela shows off his 2009 Men's Ready To Wear Fall Collection as a police line up.



Clad in his apparel, models don booking placards as they stand against a wall with the horizontal measuring markers. Looking forlorn, guilty, scared and in some cases, bored, the clothes still hold their own. The new collection consists of linear silhouettes and reinterpretations of classic looks.

There were plenty of conceptual design devices (very MMM), including a rain jacket that appears to be 'stained' with water drops on the shoulders, and an “after-party” shirt with a faux red wine stain. With Diesel owning the company, jeans were a strong element in the line. And as is typical, Margiela never seems to run out of unique ways to showcase his work. Just take a look.
















special thanks to WWD for the photos
Martin Margiela Men's Fall 2009, Photos by Dominique Maitre

Maison Martin Margiela

The Art of Chocolate. Oops, Reverse That.

Not many things are more appealing to me than art or chocolate. So, the combination of the two is something I was destined to blog about. Whether it's replications of historical sculpture, of everyday objects or modern abstract creations crafted with actual, edible chocolate, here are some you can admire, some you can order and all you can eat.


Custom Chocolate Sculptures by Paul Wayne Gregory:



Inquire about them here. (special thanks to Betsy Wills for this one)

Chocolate sculptures by frenchman Patrick Roger.
Below the chocolatier with "Harold":

and his chocolate penguins:


Chocolate City:

created by Naoko Tone and Atsuyoshi Iijima from the Chocolate exhibition at the 21_21 Design Sight space in Tokyo.

Canadian-born Cosimo Cavallaro created this controversial life sized chocolate Jesus in 2005:



And followed it up with more Chocolate Saints in 2007:



And here's artist George Heslop with his life-sized chocolate Jesus on the Cross (this one's not edible, folks):


Beautiful Valentine's sculptures in chocolate by Joseph Schmidt:




the above sculptures are not for sale

Artist and award winning Pastry Chef Gerhard Petzl's chocolate sculptures:






Here's the Gerhard with his World's Largest Chocolate Santa made just last December:


Not going to travel the world to attend Chocolate fairs, museums and exhibits, but still want a sweet piece of art? Perhaps not as artfully crafted, but certainly as delicious tasting, consider these other fun chocolate items:

Chocolate Gifts You Can Buy Now.

Endangered Species Chocolate Wall Trophies:


available from the W Hotel Store or Walteria Living


The Chocolate Pie Chart:


From Matt and Mary. Buy it here.



Painter Girl's Animal Print Bars, Chocolate Frida Tribute Bar and caramel filled chocolate paint tubes are made to order. Get them here.

Jessica Walters' handmade chocolate shoes.
Available as one large shoe:

a pair of medium sized chocolate shoes:

or a small chocolate pair in a box:

buy them here.

And of course, the fab white or milk chocolate Nike's by Blondel Chocolates in conjunction with +41:


buy them here.

And fnally, Vosges Flaming Heart Chocolates, available in 3 different flavors:



buy them here.

Yes, I know there are a many pieces of sculpted chocolates in the shapes of things like cell phones, 3D roses, gold bars, et cetera, but I'm focusing on hand made pieces that embody the craft of an artist which is why I did not include them in this post. Bon Appetit!

Chocolate Links:
Chocolate Show
Museum of Cocoa and Chocolate
Chocolate Museum of Belgium
Chocolate Museum
Extreme Chocolate
chocosphere
chocolate maniacs
fine dark chocolate
logochoco (custom chocolates including your product made out of chocolate)

Some chocolate producers:
Best Belgian Chocolate Of The World Online Store
biagio fine chocolate
Cadbury
Chocolate art (UK)
DC Duby
Ghirardelli
Godiva
Guittard
Hersheys
joseph schmidt master chocolatier
Lake Champlain Chocolates
Lindt
marie-belle
Nestle
Neuhaus
Norman Love
Patrick Roger
Scharffen Berger
teuscher
Valrhona
Vosges
zChocolates

Don't Play With Your Food - Play With The Table! Marbelous by Ontwerp

The talented duo of Nathan Wierink and Tineke Beunders - both who graduated cum laude from the Design Academy Eindhoven in 2008, are the designers behind Ontwerp duo, a design studio in the Netherlands.

One of their wonderfully whimsical pieces of work is Marbelous. A maple wood table whose surface and legs are routed to hold steel marbles, turning the piece of furniture into an interactive game.








There's even a built-in place for the marbles and caddy to sit:


Material: Maple
Dimensions: 200cm x 90 cm x 76cm
Design: Tineke Beunders



Points of sale in The Netherlands
Krabbedans, Eindhoven (www.krabbedans.nl),
Bijzondermooi, Eindhoven (www.bijzondermooi.nl),
Trendies Chic, Den Bosch (www.trendieschic.nl),
Brennels, Arnhem (www.brennels.nl),
Le Souk, Den Haag (www.soukshop.com),
Gallery PunT, Leiden
Huisraad, Amsterdam
Gallery Editions, Maastricht

Points of sale outside The Netherlands
Tante Jojo, Leuven, Belgium
Fleur-de-Leuce, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Manos, Solna, Sweden (www.manos.se),



above: Nathan Wierink and Tineke Beunders

Ontwerpduo

Mail address:
P.O. Box 2332
5600 CH Eindhoven
The Netherlands

Visiting address:
Philomenastraat 11
5622 CG Eindhoven

Phone:
+31(0)6-14716309
+31(0)6-14306524

Email: info@ontwerpduo.nl

Like fun interactive furniture? Then you should check out Didi Dunphy's Modern Convenience furnishings here.

Took Long Enough! A High Tech Lite Brite From Bandai: Luminodot

The japanese company Bandai has come out with a high tech HD led version of Hasbro's Lite Brite. The toy that lets you add clear colored pegs to a light box backing to create glowing pictures.


above: the original Lite Brite toy

Lite brite was one of my favorite toys as a kid and believe it or not, I still have my original. However, this new one by Bandai, the Luminodot, is sorely tempting me to purchase it. With 1600 colored pegs and a sleek screen, it retails for $179.00 USD.

Like the original, you can use templates to place on the light box under the perforated screen to follow as a guide or randomly create your own designs.






They have Disney licensed templates too:



a few examples of some of their downloadable templates.


They have several templates to choose from. see their downloadable templates here.

Features (as described by audio cubes):
Bandai's Luminodot is the Lite-Brite we always knew we wanted. This 70 by 50 pixelated board is supported by a bright LED backlight. With 1600 bulbs in 12 different colors, each dot is important to finish the master piece. Any type of images can be projected onto the Luminodot, from a simple 2D picture to perspective art works. Featuring a private software that helps the user to create and preview the image. Luminodot is designed with a removable front panel, which allows the user to place the printed image underneath. A one-of-a-kind interior decoration. Available only from Japan.

Specs:
Power: AC adapter
Accessories
1600 color bulbs

In Japan, buy it here.

In the US, buy it here.

Are We Not Men? We Are Rug Designers. DEVO's Mark Mothersbaugh Does Rugs

above: Mark Mothersbaugh, musian and artist


Mark Mothersbaugh, member of the iconic and influential band DEVO is a visual artist as well as a musical one. In addition to his books, prints, drawings and paintings, he's recently designed 12 different rugs for Walteria Living in Los Angeles.


above: the cover of DEVO's best selling album, Freedom of Choice

The rugs vary in size and shape, are crafted of 100% New Zealand wool and come in various color combinations. There are 4 limited edition rugs that are based on his previous paintings and drawings and 8 patterned rugs, some of which are based on his previous artwork as well, designed by Mark.

His 4 limited edition rugs:




The 8 other rugs:








In addition to the rugs, he's created a wonderful collection of wallpapers for Walteria Living as well. Many of which are based on his Beautiful Mutants images. Here's a few examples:



In his own hilarious words:

Mark's love of art started early in his childhood, just after it was discovered that he was extremely nearsighted and legally blind.

His first correctional glasses offered Mark a new view of the world, inspiring his obsession with imagery and illustrations. His first works, which he began creating in the late 60's and into the 70's, consisted of many different mediums, including rubber stamp designs, ink illustrations, screen printing, decals, and mail art. He participated in local showings, and received recognition for his work in his home town of Akron, Ohio.

With DEVO, his most successful music project, Mark was able to showcase his artistic abilities on a larger scale, and to millions of people. Through their films, videos, costumes, LP covers, stage shows, and printed materials, Mark and DEVO forever altered commonly held preconceptions of how a rock band should function in popular culture.

During his downtime on early worldwide tours with DEVO, he began illustrating on postcards to send to his friends, which he still creates, and has been creating every day for over 30 years; A very obsessive habit which still yields anywhere from 1 to 25 new images per day. These cards were originally created as his personal diaries, and were never intended for public viewing. That all changed when Mark decided to share his postcard works in his critically acclaimed solo shows during the 80's & 90's, and then with his gallery tour in 2003 titled HOMEFRONT INVASION!. This marked the beginning of many solo shows to come.

Mark followed the 2003 tour with his BEAUTIFUL MUTANTS tour in 2004, which showcased his photographic symmetrical creations and 'corrected' imagery. The tour distributed many more of Mark's works throughout the world, and attracted more first-time gallery visitors & art buyers to his shows.

Mark's gallery tours since 2005 have featured new works from both his Postcard Diaries Prints and Beautiful Mutants photographs, giving each gallery a choice of either visual theme.

Buy Mark's rugs and wallpaper here.

Check out his latest Postcard Diaries here.
And The Visual Art Of Mark Mothersbaugh website here.


Sign up to be alerted as to when his prints from his Beautiful Mutants, upon which the wallpaper is designed, here.

A Photographer Who Is Full Of Hot Air: Paul Graves' Balloon Sculpture Series

above: Paul Graves, phenomenon 3, from The balloon sculpture series, 2008


This month Italian magazine Domus' cover features photographer Paul Graves' photo of a balloon constructed person and his innards. Below are more shots from his 2008 Balloon Sculpture Series.




The image as it appears on Domus' January cover:


A photographer who has worked with balloons before, Paul has created a balloon Garden of Eden for a previous editorial:



See the fabulous details:







Prior to that, he created this fun series of celebrities as balloons, using simply their trademark hair (or lack thereof) to immediately give the balloon the recognizable persona.

Don King:

Andy Warhol:

Pippi Longstocking:

Kojak (Telly Savalas):

Liza Minelli:

David Bowie:


Paul shoots many styles a has a large range to see his complete portfolio click here.

In light of balloon 'fun', and the off chance that you are one of the 3 people left in the world who has not seen the fabulous durex condom ad with balloon animals, here it is for you:





Catch a newer post on the Balloon sculptures of photographer Paul Graves, that include his balloon expletives here.

Live Feeds & Schedule: The Presidential Inauguration (History in The Making)

Today is such a historical day with the inauguration of President Elect Barak Obama, I think I will refrain from a new post and instead suggest you watch the inauguration via live feeds and links (and read yesterday's post on the best Obama memorabilia, of course).



The White House has begun a new website starting today:


http://www.whitehouse.gov/



live feeds:
Washington Post Live feed:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/mmedia/postpoliticstv.html

CNN Live:
http://www.cnn.com/live/

MSN NBC:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27721638/

Feeds from Ustream:
http://www.ustream.tv/

C-span Inauguration Hub:
http://www.c-span.org/politics/c-span-inauguration-hub.aspx

Obamamentos - The Hippest Obama Inaugural Souvenirs And More!

With the inauguration of our President-Elect / Rockstar / Pop Icon/ Harbinger of Hope just around the corner, there's a lot of Obamarama fun to be had. Don't commemorate the special event with crappy ashtrays and keychains when you can have a signed basketball, a marvel comic, skate deck or Obama Nike Air Force Ones.

Special collectibles, designer t-shirts and totes, even a new Shepard Fairey poster all herald the historical inauguration of Barack Obama. So, get your piece of history by buying an Obama memento (or Obamamento, as I call them) worthy of the occasion.

Here are some links to hip mementos and more.

New Shepard Fairey Obama Inaugural Poster:


Buy it here (along with other Shepard Fairey Obama stuff)

Some Designer ObamaRama for you:

Diane Von Furstenberg Obama Tote:

buy it here

The Tory Burch Obama Tote:

buy it here

Designer Obama T-shirts:

Zac Posen:

Narcisco Rodriguez:

Donna Karan:

Derek Lam:

Deréon:

buy any of the above Designer T-shirts and more here.

Generation O:
For the next generation, Danica Powell, a mom from Boulder Colorado, has created Generation"O" cotton tees for babies, teens and adults.. the most clever of which are the onesies with change' appropriately stamped on the bottom:


100% cotton, 100% made in America.
see and purchase the full line here.

Obama Kicks!
Nike shoes (low, mid and hi-tops) for men and women with various Obama imagery created by 26 year old Cleveland artist, Van.






Buy the many styles here.
Or here.

Obama and Spidey!
A Special Marvel Comic book:



To celebrate the upcoming inauguration of Barack Obama, Marvel is proud to present an all-new story teaming up one of the world's most recognizable political figures with the world's greatest super hero as President-Elect Obama joins Spider-Man in "Spidey Meets the President!"



Written by Zeb Wells with art by Todd Nauck and Frank D'Armata, the story takes place in Washington, D.C. on Inauguration Day and finds one of Spider-Man's oldest foes attempting to thwart the swearing in ceremony of the 44th President of the United States.

Fans can read it in its entirety in Marvel Comics' AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #583, available in comic book shops nationwide on January 14th, 2009 (don't bother... it is sold out already).


Above: the line in New York for the Marvel Comic book

Look for this special variant cover in the second printing of the comic by artist Phil Jimenez featuring the President-Elect and Spider-Man:


Here's some of the inside art by Todd Nauck:


Maybe you can find one on ebay?

Clean up America with the Obama Bar!:

buy it here.

Handmade and painted plaster cast mask of Obama by artists Nandi and Karimu:

buy it here.

Designer Mads Norgaard's Obama Undies:

http://www.madsnorgaard.dk

Obama beanie with colored crystals:

buy it here.

The Obama Doll:

Buy it here

Now there's a special "Golden" Inauguration edition of the doll:

presently sold out but can be reordered for next shipment here.

And two more great versions of the doll.

The limited edition HOPE version (a la shepard fairey):


And the DIY Version:

both also available here.

Official Obama Bobble head:

Buy it here.

Obama Basketball:

Even an Obama signed regulation basketball, available here.

Obama Skateboards and decks:

HaveFun Skateboarding:

Buy it here.

Urban Outfitters Obama Deck:

buy it here.

Sin City Obama Skateboard deck:

buy it here.

Limited edition (50) Atlas skateboard deck by David Banks:

Order the Atlas deck by phone here.


The Official Site for Inaugural Collectibles.


The Inauguration Souvenir Store


Buy Obama stuff from several different people at Zazzle


Or at Cafe Press

Other Fun Obama links:

Obamify Yourself:

Obamicon yourself here


Get the Obamify photo booth plug-in for mac here.


And finally, you can vote on stunning poster designs supporting Obama at design for Obama

Tech and Entertainment On Wheels: The Limited Edition Scion XB Release Series 6.0

The Scion XB Release Series 6.0 (xB RS 6.0) is a limited edition vehicle with a production run of only 2,500 vehicles. Created to be your advanced mobile entertainment center, it ensures that you are always dialed in to friends, entertainment and your world.





• The Look – This vehicle has stand-out features with Scion’s iconic styling including a bold exterior color, detailed fabric seats, RS wheel covers and an RS numbered holographic badge



•Video Playback iPod® Connectivity – Dock your iPod video to the head unit and watch movies when the vehicle is in park



•Built-in Bluetooth® – Allows you to connect your mobile phone to the system so you never need to miss a call or deal with earpieces again



•Google Maps – Send information from Google Maps to your Pioneer navigation system



•Personalized Mapping & Settings – Meet up with friends without getting lost by creating custom points of interest via the Internet, and customize personal settings via the built-in SD card slot or USB memory device



•LED color changing interior light






• Color keyed spoiler




STANDARD EXTERIOR FEATURES:
• Choice of three wheel cover designs
• Chrome exhaust tip
• Intermittent front wiper
• Multi-reflector halogen headlamps with projector lamp for low beams
• Rear privacy glass
• Rear wiper
• Remote keyless entry
• Roof mounted antenna
• Side mirrors with turn indicators

STANDARD INTERIOR FEATURES
• 60/40-split, fold flat rear seat
• Air conditioning
• Auto-shift door lock (A/T models)
• Cargo area under-floor storage
• Center console
• Deep orange instrument panel illumination
• Cruise control
• Cup holders
• Digital clock and speedometer
• Driver and front passenger sunvisor with mirror
• Driver’s seat-mounted armrest
• Driver’s seat with adjustable height
• First-aid kit
• Front sport bucket seats with fabric upholstery
• Multi-information display
• Power door locks, outside mirrors and windows with one-touch auto down on driver’s side
• Rear window defogger
• Storage tray under rear seat
• Tachometer and trip meter
• Tilt steering wheel with audio controls





The vehicle enters the market starting at $17,493 for manual and $18,443 for automatic. This pricing makes the Scion xB RS 6.0 $2,462 less than the Honda Element[1] ($2,142 with the spoiler) and $1,567 less than the Chevrolet HHR[2] ($1,247 with the spoiler).

The XB RS 6.0 will be on display at the Detroit Auto Show beginning January 11th.

[1] 2009 Honda Element 2WD LX manual transmission MSRP (DPH Not Included). No available navigation system.
[1] 2009 Chevrolet HHR LS manual transmission MSRP (DPH Not Included). No available navigation system.

The official Scion site.

Pantone Continues Their Colorful Collaborations With A GAP Pop Up Store.

Last weekend Gap and Pantone opened up a pop-up shop on 5th Ave in the company’s ‘concept store’ space. The shop is selling t-shirts in a range of Pantone hues.



Pantone recently unveiled its pick for the 2009 color of the year called Mimosa (#14-0848). Pantone describes the color as having seven characteristics, optimistic, hopeful, reassuring, warm, cheerful, radiant, and versatile which they feel are the most relevant to the next twelve months. Gap has issued a Mimosa hued shirt that is only available at the store on 5th.




If Pantone t-shirts sound familiar, yes they have been done before by Uniqlo. (Along with lots of other collaborations you can read about here, here and here).

The shop, now thru February 8th will feature a full palette of Gap tees from Gap’s upcoming spring collection in true PANTONE Colors, including a limited-edition tee in Mimosa, Pantone’s color of the year for 2009, available only at the Gap & Pantone T-Shop.

“We wanted to create an explosion of color and bring some warmth and optimism to our customers,” said Patrick Robinson, executive vice president of design for Gap Adult and gapbody. “Mixing Pantone’s vibrant colors with Gap’s signature t-shirts gives everyone an opportunity to find the perfect tee they can mix and match for their own personal style.”


above: Pantone's "Color Of The Year"Mimosa in The Gap and Pantone T-Shop

Alongside Gap men’s crewneck [$18] and women’s v-neck [$18.50] t-shirts, the shop will feature a display of PANTONE UNIVERSE(TM) items, including a collection of color-themed stationery, office supplies, books and accessories.


above: the womens t-shirt display


above: The Men's t-shirt display

Pantone, an X-Rite company (NASDAQ: XRIT), is the global authority on color and provides professional color standards for the design industries.

The Mimosa tee is available in limited quantities as a men’s crewneck [$18] and women’s v-neck [$18.50]. Mimosa is also one of the 3,000 colors available in Pantone’s line of superior-quality, eco-friendly paint.


above: The Gap and Pantone T-Shop featuring the Mimosa colored Tee

“We are thrilled to be working with Gap to bring PANTONE Colors to life in such an accessible way,” said Lisa Herbert, executive vice president of Pantone’s fashion, home and consumer division. “We recently selected Mimosa as the 2009 color of the year because yellow, more than any other color, best expresses hope and reassurance. During this time of economic uncertainty and change, we are excited to bring optimism and joy to consumers by offering products in this imaginative color at the Gap & Pantone T-Shop.”

Details about Gap & Pantone T-Shop:
WHEN: Friday, Jan. 9 through Sunday, Feb. 8, 2009
Store Hours: Monday – Saturday: 10:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m. | Sunday: 11:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.
WHERE: 680 Fifth Avenue (between 53rd and 54th Streets), New York

Chic fashion blog, Racked, remains unimpressed (read it here)
special thanks to PSFK and Lint Coat for images and info.

If you like Pantone related items, have I got Pantone products for you!

Krug Collaborates With Artists for Visionaire #55 Surprise; Pop up Book Extraordinaire

Visionaire 55: Surprise presents 12 hardcover pop-up books, boxed together, with projects by Steven Meisel, Mario Testino, Steven Klein, Sophie Calle, Andreas Gursky, Cai Guo-Qiang, Guido Mocafico, Solve Sundsbo, Yayoi Kusama, Gareth Pugh and Alasdair McLellan. Together, the pop-up folios are housed in a cloth-covered case with a magnetized closure and an engraved metal plaque. Surprise is a collaboration with the internationally renowned Champagne house, Krug.




PUBLISHED BY: Visionaire
FORMAT: Boxed, 12 volumes, 10.75 x 8.5 in. / 12 color pop-ups.
ISBN: 9781888645750 ISBN10: 188864575X

Images and artists below, paper engineering by Bruce Foster.












Limited to 4,000 numbered copies worldwide, there are also 12 sets with a bottle of Krug Grand Cuvée in a gift box. The publication has a suggested retail price of $250.00.

Buy Visionaire Books here.

Visionaire Publications is a company dedicated to creating beautiful artistic collaborations in limited editions. This is their latest release, #55. With three editions each year in limited numbers, they do sell out quickly.

See and read about Issue #54 (polo shirts by Lacoste printed with art) here.

To read about editions #52 and #53, click here.

Getting A Handle On Design With Valli & Valli and FSB

Valli & Valli
The handle, as conceived by Valli&Valli, has traditionally conveyed a home’s style and functional elegance and, as a decorative object therein, will remain an important element of interior décor well into the future. Guided by this vision, Valli&Valli created vcr Valli&Valli and Fusital, trademark collections recognized for their technological sophistication and signature contemporary aesthetic.

I wanted to show you some door handles from their Fusital collection because they've been created by incredibly respected architects, designers and design firms whose names you probably recognize. (And if you don't, it's worth googling them).

The Fusital collection.
The Fusital collection is the flagship division of Valli & Valli and offers series designed by world-renowned architects and designers, including: Frank Gehry, Gae Alulenti, Andrée Putman, Antonio Citterio, Cini Beori, Leon Krier, Richard Meier, Eero Aarnio, Mario Bellini, and Michael Graves, among others. The collaboration between these talents and Valli & Valli’s technical specialists results in innovative products that encompass the best in contemporary design.



The project became a reality in 1976 with the establishment of the Fusital trade-mark for the creation of "artistic handles" for doors and windows. Relying on the consolidated values - industrial credibility and image strength as a basis Valli&Valli succeeded in evolving, as the premier company in its field, names from the world of top class design and international architecture, receiving always an enthusiastic response and great commitment.

The door handles shown below are a few examples of available styles designed by some very impressive architects and design innovators:


above: by Zaha Hadid and Woody Yao. This door handle was the recipient of the impressive Grandesign Etico International Award in 2008.



above: two handles by Frank Gehry.


above: handle by Richard Meier


above: handle by Fabio Novembre. Note the fabulous heart shaped end.


above: handle by Ron Arad


above: handle by Alan Ritchie and Philip Johnson Architects


above: handle by Piano Design


above: handle by Odile Decq-Benoìt Cornette


above: handle by Jean Nouvel


above: handle by Yoshimi Kono


above: handle by Antonio Citterio with Toan Nguyen


above: handle by Gustav Piechl

All the above designs have accompanying drawer pulls, hooks and additional styles and hardware.

The designers, who up to the present day have created more than 51 collections for Valli & Valli include: Eero Aarnio, Ron Arad, Gae Aulenti, Mario Bellini, Cini Boeri, Achille Castiglioni, Cerri & Associati, David Chipperfield Architects, Antonio Citterio, Droog Design Ronald Lewerissa, D'Urbino-Lomazzi, Foster and Partners, Massimiliano e Doriana Fuksas, Frank O. Gehry, Michael Graves, Gregotti Associati, Hans Kollhoff, Yoshimi Kono, Leon Krier, Chi Wing Lo, Vico Magistretti, Angelo Mangiarotti, Richard Meier, Renzo Mongiardino, Jean Nouvel, John Pawson, Gustav Peichl, Piano Design Workshop, Andrée Putman, Alan Ritchie-Philip Johnson Architects, Aldo Rossi, Sottsass Associati, Taller Design Ricardo Bofill, Matteo Thun, Marco Zanuso.

A little history:


Nearly eighty years ago, Pasquale Valli secured a position at an umbrella factory in Veduggio, Italy, managing the department that oversaw the design and production of handles. While umbrellas of the time looked exactly the same—somber, dark and gloomy—the treatment reserved for the handle itself was wildly different. In Valli's design department, fancy took flight. The handle articulated the true personality of the umbrella and it was this piece that captured a buyer’s attention. The importance of touch and the contact between a consumer and an innovatively designed object was an experience that Pasquale Valli valued immeasurably.

Valli learned many things from his time in the handle department. He absorbed an understanding of the properties and handling of metal, including fusion techniques, the use of molds and dyes and the techniques employed for various other materials, such as plastics. Fascinated with the ergonomic relationship between hand and object, he was compelled to study at a sculptor’s studio, inciting a passion for art and commitment to artisanal craft methods. These experiences changed his life, inspiring him to become an entrepreneur.


To see the full lines and the names, dimensions and details of the designs, please visit Valli and Valli online here.


FSB


Not to be outdone, FSB has their own collection of 'name' designers for their brand. In addition to their large line of hardware and fittings, they too have had world renowned architects and designers create door levers and hardware for their brand.



above: handle by Philipe Starck


above: handle by Nicholas Grimshaw


above: handle by Christophe Ingehoven


above: handle by Erik Magnusson


above: handle by Christoph Mackler


above: handle by Hartmut Weise


above: handle by Jasper Morrison


above: handle by Hans Kollhoff


above: handle by Jahn/Lykouria

A little FSB history:
Since its foundation in 1881 FSB has lived by following market impulses. Always on the pulse of the "zeitgeist". Usually daring to anticipate new trends. Invariably committed to the traditions of craftsmanship.

Historic furniture fitting models and simple devotional articles made of brass were in demand in 1881, when the company founder Franz Schneider entered the scene of metal fittings in Iserlohn in the Sauerland hills. His success proved him right: by the turn of the century, his product range already filled a sizeable catalogue.

In 1909, the company’s founder Franz Schneider moved from the Sauerland to the Weser Hills. In Brakel, he had discovered a deserted factory site which became his permanent choice of location. He made a point of adding the letter B to his initials F and S and proudly marketed the company’s first door and window furniture in silver and black under the new company name FSB.

During the building boom in the reconstruction phase after 1945, FSB discovered light metal as a new material for its products. In Brakel, the contemporary spirit of that period featuring bag-shaped lamp shades and kidney-shaped tables was honoured with swinging, colourful entrance door designs that can still be admired today in some older shop fronts.

Between 1953 and 1963 the chaser, toolmaker and training supervisor Johannes Potente developed his classic hand form design at FSB. His designs are well-known, but nobody knows his name. The anonymous industrial design by Johannes Potente was honoured by experts in keeping with its merits only after his death. His designs were then added to famous collections of design models such as the MoMA in New York.

Under the intellectual leadership of Otl Aicher FSB has embarked on a new strategy during the last 20 years, without denying its century-old corporate tradition.

With a stylized handle (fashioned along the lines of the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein’s door handle) and a stylized hand as a reminder that door handles are really extensions of the hand, Aicher furnished the graphical cornerstones of our new corporate image.



To see their complete lines of home fittings, hardware and more, visit the FSB site here

The IGL Jet Desk Makes A Comeback

The IGL JET desk, originally designed by Ernest Igl in 1970, has been reissued in a limited edition. Available in four colors; silver, black, white and orange, the modern looking desk is a perfect example of form as function.



Available colors:




The details:





In situ:






Ernest Igl is best known for his revolutionary designs for Leica and Steelcase

See more details here.

Design: Studio Ernest Igl 1970
A product of Sensufaktur® Tobias Brandstetter
Keplerstr. 9, D-81679 Munich,
www.sensufaktur.de
+49 89 3064 6322,
VAT No. DE 251577490

eMail: tb@sensufaktur.de

Beautiful Losers Boxed Catalog of Original Street Art & Urban Artifacts

Beautiful Losers is an exhibition of multi-media art and design that explores the recent work of a diverse group of visual artists that have emerged from the subcultures of skateboarding, graffiti, punk, and hip hop in U.S. urban centers.

The core of the project involves painting, sculpture, and photography, as well as film, video, performance, and product design by more than thirty individuals who have emerged in the last decade--some now established figures in the art world, but many receiving their first broad exposure via these projects.

Below are images from a boxed edition of the catalog that include signed original silkscreen prints, photographs, objects, vinyl toys, flip books, dvds..... even Terry Richardson glasses.



The limited edition Beautiful Losers boxed catalog includes the following works:


above: Mike Mills - The Architecture Of Reassurance, offset printed book, approx. 6 x 4 inches, open edition

above: Cheryl Dunn - C-4, San Francisco, Tenderloin Hallway, c-print, 6 x 4 inches, printed and signed by the artist, edition of 100 [featured in the Beautiful Losers catalog]

above: Evan Hecox - Chinatown NYC, woodblock print on Japanese rice paper, 10 x 8 inches, printed and signed by the artist, numbered edition of 100

above: Harmony Korine & Mark Gonzales - Adulthood, hand photocopied zine, approx. 8 x 5 inches, edition of 100

above: Tobin Yelland - Untitled, offset printed poster, 16 x 20 inches, signed edition of 100 [featured in the Beautiful Losers catalog]

above: Cynthia Connolly - Page, Arizona [from the portfolio Ice Machines featured in the Beautiful Losers exhibition], silver gelatin print, 4 x 6 inches, printed and signed by the artist, edition of 100

above: Rostarr - Untitled, silkscreen and spray enamel on paper, 11 x 13 inches, hand-painted, printed, and signed by the artist, numbered edition of 100

above: Ryan McGinness - Multiverse Sticker Pack, various stickers in custom package, approx. 5 x 5 inches, signed and numbered edition of 100

above: Ari Marcopoulos - I Might Be Wrong, offset printed zine, approx. 8 x 5 inches

above: Jo Jackson - States [5 different versions], approx, 2.5 x 3.5 inches, handmade flip book

above: Shepard Fairey - Untitled, silkscreen on paper, 10 x 8 inches, printed and signed by the artist, numbered edition of 100

above: James Jarvis - The Thin Blue Line, action figure, approx. 6 x 3.5 inches, signed edition of 100

above: Todd James - Alive With Pleasure, silkscreen on paper, 7 x 5 inches, numbered edition of 100

above: Phil Frost - Poster Marker, custom refillable ink marker, approx. 5 x 1 inches, open edition

above: Andy Jenkins - Untitled, 100 unique inkjet prints on paper, approx. 11 x 9 inches, signed by the artist, edition of 100

above: Chris Johanson - Love Not War, set of 8 buttons pinned to numbered placard, 4 x 7 inches, numbered edition of 100

above: Geoff McFetridge - Kemistry, 1 of 100 original pencil drawings on canson acid free paper with DVD of the complete animated sequence of the 100 drawings in custom packaging, 9 x12 inches, signed edition of 100


above: Barry McGee - Untitled, marker on various sticker papers, dimensions variable, signed by the artist

above: Steve Powers - Handy Signs, custom die cut vinyl sticker sheet, approx. 15 x 8 inches, edition of 100

above: Terry Richardson - Smilen glasses, pair of authentic Terry Richardson eyeglasses, approx. 3 x 8 x 3 inches

above: Craig R. Stecyk III - Untitled, 100 unique silver gelatin prints with silkscreen, 4 x 6 inches, printed and signed by the artist, edition of 100

above: Ed Templeton - Chris Johanson, Beautiful Losers, silver gelatin print, 8 x 10 inches, numbered edition of 100

above: Clare E. Rojas - Faint Humms, limited edition compact disk, approx. 5 x 6 inches

above: Mark Gonzales - Krooked Authentico, limited edition air freshener, approx. 6 x 3 inches

above: Thomas Campbell - T. Moe Wallet, limited edition Paul Frank wallet, approx. 4 x 4 inches

Below are images as to how the works are packaged in the crate:





and yes, it includes the catalog from the exhibit:

Approx 22 x 18 x 9 inches, Numbered edition of 100

The Beautiful Losers Catalog [Boxed Edition], 2006
Custom slipcased First Edition / First Printing catalog packaged in custom military grade wood box with limited editions and original works of art by the Beautiful Losers artists.
Approx 22 x 18 x 9 inches, Numbered edition of 100. $1,500.00
Buy it here.

About the Exhibit:
The exhibition also includes a concise overview of the work of a previous generation of artists who have had a direct influence on the aesthetic development of the artists in question; an environmental soundscape that traces the relationship between these subcultures and various genres of popular music; a selection of ephemeral materials (album covers, skateboard decks, toys, zines, etc.) produced in or related to this milieu; and a film and video program to be screened within the exhibition itself.

The exhibition is conceived and curated by Christian Strike and Aaron Rose of Iconoclast. Beautiful Losers opened in Cincinnati at the Contemporary Arts Center in March 2004 and then traveled to San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in July of 2004. The exhibit will make stops at the Orange County Museum of Art and The Contemporary in Baltimore in 2005, and then travel to Europe in 2006 and Asia and Australia in 2007.

A fully illustrated 272-page catalogue published by Iconoclast accompanies the exhibition:



Over 250 pages of documenting a rising movement of artists across the world.
Hardcover, 8.5 x 11 in./272 pgs
Buy it here.

You can purchase several individual pieces by the artists mentioned above and many others, as well as do a virtual 'walkthrough' of the exhibit here.

Beautiful Losers has their own site here.

About Iconoclast:
Iconoclast Editions is a project-based studio working in collaboration with artists to produce a wide variety of multi-media endeavors. Iconoclast produces exhibitions, publications, and artist editions. Since 2002, Iconoclast has produced a multitude of exhibitions, books, editions and other projects including the widely acclaimed touring museum exhibition, Beautiful Losers.
information@iconoclastusa.com

Rubik Riot: Erno's Cubes Continue To Inspire 30 Years Later

It's been over 30 years since Erno Rubik first came up with the idea for what is now world's most popular puzzle, the Rubik's Cube. But given the glut of items on the market, you'd think the item were designed only yesterday.

First, a little history:


above: a young Erno with his cube

The Cube as a puzzle, was invented in the spring of 1974, when the twenty-nine year old Hungarian Erno Rubik discovered it was not so easy to realign the colors to match on all six sides. He was not sure he would ever be able to return his invention to its original position. He theorized that by randomly twisting the Cube he would never be able to fix it in a lifetime, which later turns out to be more than correct. He began working out a solution, starting with aligning the eight corner cubes. He discovered certain sequences of moves for rearranging just a few cubes at a time. Within a month, he had the puzzle solved and well, the rest is history.

Following the success of the cube - which is said to have 43,252,003,274,489,856,000 possible configurations - Mr Rubik invented several other mechanical puzzles, including Rubik's Magic, Rubik's Clock and Rubik's Snake.


above: the classic and original rubik's cube, unsolved

The First Patent:
Rubik applied for his Hungarian patent in January 1975 and left his invention with a small toy making cooperative in Budapest. The patent approval finally came in early 1977 and the first Cubes appeared at the end of 1977 and were sold in the US in 1980. By this time, Erno Rubik was married.

Two other people applied for similar patents at about the same time as Rubik. Terutoshi Ishige applied a year after Rubik, for a Japanese patent on a very similar cube. An American, Larry Nichols, patented a cube before Rubik, held together with magnets. Nichols' toy was rejected by all toy companies, including the Ideal Toy Corporation, which later bought the rights to Rubik's Cube.


above: variants on the original

There is only 1 correct answer and 43 quintillion wrong ones for Rubik's Cube. God's algorithm is the answer that solves the puzzle in the least number of moves. One eighth of the world's population has laid hands on 'The Cube', making it the most popular puzzle in history.


above: Erno Rubik in a rare appearance at the 2007 Rubik's Cube World Championships in Budapest.

"I'm glad the cube is reaching new generations, who face it with fresh wonder, curiosity and enthusiasm" -- Erno Rubik, 2007

A nicely executed print campaign heralded the 25th anniversary of the classic puzzle:




All that said, the puzzle continues to inspire several other projects from novelty products and home furnishings to technological gadgets and fine art. Here are just a few of them.

Rubik's Cube Tables from Jellio:


buy them here.

The Rubik's Cube Alarm clock:

buy it here.

Converse® Rubik Chuck Taylors:

buy them here.

Rubik's Cube Handbag
Jean Charles de Castlebac created a fashionable purse based on the cube that appeared in his Fall 2008 runway show:


and Let's Fly knocked it off and it's available for only $18.00:



buy it here.

Rubik's Cube Keyring puzzle:

buy it here.

Rubik's Cube inspired USB hub:


buy it here.


Sports Teams Rubik cubes

Rubiks Cube cufflinks:

buy them here.

Geoffrey Parker's Luxe Rubik Cubes crafted of leather:

buy them here

Ruby Cube tables, a more sophisticated palette made with acrylic panels, inspired by the Rubik's Cube:



buy them here.

Serious Luxury Cubes:


Above: Diamond Cutter's Custom $1,000,000 Rubik’s Cube

“The world's most expensive toy” was fashioned by Fred Cuellar to commemorate the 15th Anniversary of the Rubik’s Cube. This full-size, fully working cube is covered with 185 carats of precious gems. It is valued over a million dollars.

Limited Edition Diamond Cutters Silver Cube:

This is a workable cube, contains 1.5 pounds of pure silver, with a Signed Certificate of Authenticity with Erno Rubiks signature on it. The above picture depicts the cube, the box and the $10,000 appraisal.

more images:



Not available for purchase.

Rubik's Cube Speaker:


This Japanese gizmo is not a puzzle but a speaker, just connect your MP3 player to it and watch the cube mesmerize you with the 27 or so odd designs as each square lights up in red/green/orange color. You will never get bored as the design patterns change according to the tempo of the music.



It has three built in tunes and can be powered via the AC adapter or batteries. The light patterns are so attractive that you wont mind putting it on your car's dashboard too. Weighing 150g, the Megahouse illuminated speaker system in Rubik's Cube design will be available by late October for approximately 5,250 Yen ($43).

Rubik's Cube Cake by eden cakes:

The above cake feeds over 100 people and is one of the best looking Rubik's Cube cakes I've ever seen. learn more about it here

The Rubik's Lamp by Eric Pautz (found on the behance network):


Rubik's lamp is an innovative project based on the popular toy from the eighties. Much like the original Rubik's cube, the lamp is composed of 26 smaller cube-like pieces, whose interlocking shapes fit onto each other. Currently looking for producers.

Artwork:



RUBIKCUBISM - an exhibition by French artist Invader featuring mosaics, video installation, and both small and large-scale sculptures. In 2005, Six Space gallery in Los Angeles hosted his first US exhibit.

Below are some of his editions:

Rubik Bonnie & Clyde:

Rubik Soup:

Rubik Kiss:

Rubik Manson:

Rubik Ingres (after Ingres' Odalisque):

See many more pieces created with Rubik's Cubes by the french artist on his website.
Invader's Rubik Cubism site.

Another Cube artist is Toronto-born Robert Mckinnon, an electrician by trade and artist by passion, shown below:



Mckinnon starts with a pre-existing photo or image, blows it up in Photoshop and creates a heavily-pixelated image, then rearranges each individual cube to match them all to that image. Creating a Rubik's Cube mosaic is actually not as hard as it sounds, Mckinnon told Torontoist: all you need to be able to complete a piece like his Mona Lisa (shown below) or Ray Charles (shown below) is "solve only one face of the cube." The rest is "time [and] patience," he says. Time and patience—and a few hundred cubes, a few hundred bucks, and one strong easel.



His Mona Lisa, above, is made of 315 cubes and stands about four feet tall by three feet wide, took twelve hours to make, weighs eighty pounds, and cost $400 in materials—most of it dollar store Rubik's Cubes. (Ray Charles, a little smaller, weighs and cost a little less, as it took only 266 cubes.)


above: McKinnon's Frankenstein

McKinnon doesn't have a website, but if you want to commission some work, you can email him at nightly23@hotmail.com.

Inspired by the Cube, Patricia Truesdale made a wool hook rug:



Taking the cubes and creating 3D sculptures of them is Hana Bizek. You can see those here and read about the mathematical theory behind them.




Installations:

The counter at the Jean Charles de Castelbajac store in London. Designed by Castelbajac and architect Christian Ghion, the installation is the only one of its kind in the world:



Guerilla public art in Sydney, Australia:


At the Disney Pop Resort:


Images in Advertising:





and in pop culture:

Graffiti found in Madrid:

Rubik's Cube Alphabet:


Hee Yong Shin's beautful MP3 player prototype:



Wall stickers:

above: designed by zeptiror.com

I know there are tons of DIY Rubick's inspired items on craft sites and blogs as well as loads of flickr sets of Rubik-like items that I didn't include in this post, but that's because I'm sharing with you either actual mass produced items available for purchase or what I felt was gallery quality fine art inspired by the brightly colored puzzle. I'm certain I have left some wonderful examples out, so I hope you'll forgive me for that.

Relevant Links:

Rubik's Cube on Wikipedia
DIY Rubik's Cubes
Custom Printed Rubik's Cubes
More Custom Rubik's Cubes


Incredible explorations and variations of the puzzle



How to make the above Rubik's Cube Cake

For the more serious Cubers:


The World Cube Association
Rubik Cube World Record Holders
Speedcubing
Lube the Cube

Vitamin's Urban Creatures Give Birth To More

If you are familiar with any of the products created by the inventive folks at Vitamin in London, it's probably their 'urban gnomes' since those are carried at several hip online and design stores worldwide. The Urban Creatures range has since spawned several offshoots and variations based on the original screen printed, 21 cm tall white creatures.


Above: One of their classic original Urban Gnomes that started it all.

Above: the 'glowing' version (only available in the UK and Europe)

Above: one of their several hip limited edition 'street gnomes'


Above: their Urban Creatures Salt and Pepper shakers called "hoodies" (also available in black)

Now, they've added a new line of products based upon their 'Urban Creatures' that includes kitchen timers, bottle openers and coin banks.



As of right now, the Urban Creatures line of bottle openers, kitchen timers, and money boxes are available for pre-order and each comes in one of four styles; Floral, Blossom, Bones and Hex.

Urban Creatures Money Boxes (Coin Banks):





Urban Creatures Kitchen Timers:





Urban Creatures Bottle Openers:





pre-order them here.


In addition to their Urban Creatures line, they carry other fun items like plant pots, tableware, and more, be sure to see them all.




How they describe themselves:
With a product range which spans from ceramics, furniture, and now sports accessories, Vitamin is ready to put it's own fresh spin on any product. Whether it's free-standing lamps that double as carpet sweepers, vases with integrated ashtrays or table lights which keep your cup of tea warm, Vitamin produces extra-ordinary products that hopefully make their owners' lives a little less ordinary.

Since its launch in Sept 2005 Vitamin has designed products for Hasbro, Virgin Atlantic, Bliss and Philips to name a few. Whether it is ideas generation, design development or production design Vitamin can help you add that something extra ordinary to make your company and its products stand out from the crowd.

Vitamin

Location:
The Old Truman Brewery
91 Brick Lane
London E1 6QL
Tel +44 (0)20 7092 9191
Fax +44 (0)87 0762 0129

Erwin Olaf: Elevating Retail Photography To Art Worth Collecting.

Above: The Egg vase by Moooi, shot by Erwin olaf

As an advertising art director, one mentally creates lists of 'blue sky' directors and photographers with whom they wish to work. Erwin Olaf is one of the photographers whose work I've admired for a long time and, along with Eugenio Recuenco, tops my list as the most lust-worthy photographers.

Just shy of 50 years old, Olaf was born in the Netherlands, lives and works in Amsterdam and has received several awards and has had many exhibitions of his works all over the world.

He's an incredibly versatile talent and can shoot everything from fashion, product, people, and more, all imbued with an artful eerieness and uniquely composed. Some of his work is overtly sexual, some incredibly macabre, and some almost heart-breaking. But all of it is beautiful.

He's shot for everything from Diesel to Nicorette, fashion editorials for Elle and the NY Times, lifestyle shots for Campbell's and Kohler, retail for Microsoft and Moooi and so much more.

I first discovered him when I came across his incredible product photography for Moooi, which he has done for the past 3 years. Often shooting such products as lights, vases and chairs results in a predictable shot. Not with Olaf. Here are just a few examples of that work:








In addition to his commissioned work for ad agencies and clients, he has many personal series and collections (often shown in galleries worldwide) from which I've pulled a few pieces to share with you.

Blacks:


Grief:


Royal Blood:


Some shots from his latest work; Laboral Escena, Gijon, Spain:


I also wanted to show you, in detail, his digitally manipulated photography for a fashion photo editorial of couture clothing for the NY Times in 2006. In the shots shown below, you can see how the models 'meld' with their surroundings. Despite this unconventional way of shooting fashion, the unusual poses do not detract from the clothing and yet the photography now stands out from other fashion shots as original and memorable.

Chanel:

detail:

Valentino:

detail:

Dior:

detail:

Gaultier:

detail:

Versace:

detail:

Lacroix:

detail:

Armani:


There's lots more to see, so check it out.
Erwin Olaf's website.

IJSELSTRAAT 26-28
1078 CJ
AMSTERDAM
TEL.: +31 20 692 34 38
FAX: +31 20 694 12 91
INFO@ERWINOLAF.COM

My other fave? Check out Eugenio Recuenco's work here.

The Crunchies; 2008 Tech Award Winners, Links and info

The 2008 Crunchies is TechCrunch's second annual competition and award ceremony to recognize and celebrate the most compelling startups, internet and technology innovations of the year.

The Awards Ceremony took place at 7:30 pm, Friday, January 9 at the Herbst Theater in San Francisco.

The Crunchies is co-hosted by GigaOm, VentureBeat, Silicon Alley Insider, and TechCrunch. Best of all, the internet community is invited to choose who wins.

This year’s nominees, runners up and winners (I've turned the 'winners' into links and added screen grabs for those of you unfamiliar with those products or services):

Best Application Or Service: Google Reader

Above: screen grab of the winner; Google Reader

Get Satisfaction
Google Reader (winner)
Minted
Meebo
MySpace Music (runner-up)
Yelp

Best Technology Innovation/Achievement: Windows Live Mesh

Above: screen grab of the winner; Windows Live Mesh

Facebook Connect (runner-up)
Google Friend Connect
Google Chrome
Windows Live Mesh (winner)
Swype
Yahoo BOSS

Best Design: Cooliris

Above: screen grab of the winner; Cooliris

Animoto (runner-up)
Cooliris (winner)
Friendfeed
Infectious
Lala
Sliderocket

Best Bootstrapped Startup: GitHub

Above: screen grab of the winner; GitHub

BackType
GitHub (winner)
Socialcast
StatSheet
12seconds.tv (runner-up)

Most Likely To Make The World A Better Place: GoodGuide

Above: screen grab of the winner; GoodGuide

Akoha
Causes
CO2Stats
GoodGuide (winner)
Kiva (runner-up)
Better Place

Best Enterprise Startup: Amazon Web Services

Above: screen grab of the winner; Amazon Web Services

Amazon Web Services (winner)
Force.com
Google App Engine (runner-up)
Yammer
Zoho

Best International Startup: eBuddy

Above: screen grab of the winner; eBuddy

eBuddy (winner)
Fotonauts
OpenX
Vente-privee
Wuala (runner-up)

Best Clean Tech Startup: Project Frog

Above: screen grab of the winner; Project Frog

Better Place (runner-up)
Boston Power
ElectraDrive
Laurus Energy
Project Frog (winner)

Best New Gadget/Device: iPhone 3G

Above: screen grab of the winner; iPhone 3G

Android G1 (runner-up)
Ausus EEE 1000 Series
Flip MinoHD
iPhone 3G (winner)
SlingCatcher

Best Time Sink Site/Application: Tap Tap Range

Above: screen grab of the winner; Tap Tap Range

Mob Wars
iBowl
Tap Tap Range (winner)
Zivity
Texas Hold Em (runner-up)

Best Mobile Startup: Evernote

Above: screen grab of the winner; Evernote

ChaCha (runner-up)
Evernote (winner)
Posterous
Qik Skyfire
Truphone

Best Mobile Application: Imeem Mobile

Above: screen grab of the winner; Imeem Mobile

Google Mobile Application (runner-up)
imeem mobile (winner)
Pandora Radio
rolando
ShopSavvy
Ocarina

Best Startup Founders: Evan Williams, Jack Dorsey & Biz Stone of Twitter

Above: screen grab of the winners; Twitter's Founders

Linda Avery and Anne Wojcicki (23andMe)
Michael Birch and Xochi Birch (Bebo)
Robert Kalin (Etsy)
Evan Williams, Jack Dorsey, Biz Stone (Twitter ) (winner)
Paul Buchheit, Jim Norris, Sanjeev Singh, Bret Taylor (FriendFeed ) (runner-up)

Best Startup CEO: Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook

Above: screen grab of the winner; Mark Zuckerberg

Tony Hsieh (Zappos)
Jason Kilar (Hulu) (runner-up)
Elon Musk (SpaceX)
Andy Rubin (Android)
Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook) (winner)

Best New Startup Of 2008: FriendFeed

Above: screen grab of the winner; FriendFeed
Dropbox (runner-up)
FriendFeed (winner)
GoodGuide
Tapulous
Topsin Media
Yammer

Best Overall Startup In 2008: Facebook

Above: screen grab of the winner; my own facebook profile

Amazon Web Services
Facebook (winner)
Android
hulu
Twitter (runner-up)

Russian Born Artist Yulia Brodskaya's Paper Graphics

Russian born Yulia Brodskaya is a talented artist, graphic designer, typographer, and most impressively, paper sculptor. Her works are used in both commercial and personal applications and her paper graphics are precious 3D sculptures that incorporate all her talents into one art form. Take a look at some of them:











In light of my recent post about the popularity of Hedgehogs in design, I must share with you her hedgehog illustrations:




About the artist:


Yulia born in Russia where she started out as a fine artist producing contemporary office decoration artwork for Moscow based companies while studying for her first degree in Graphic Design. In 2004 she moved to London, earned her M.A. in Graphic Communication and since then has been busy with parallel careers as an illustrator and a freelance graphic designer.

Awards: 1st prize in the Russian Conceptual Packaging Design Competition; in recognition of typographic achievement she was elected a Member of the International Society of Typographic Designers (2006). Clients include Orange, RedBull, BBH, How2 T-shirts, International Organ Festival, ARMI, Touchnote cards and CUBE magazine.

She says "I'm constantly experimenting and evolving, always pushing my style in new directions: my greatest passion is to explore the ways of combining illustration and typography."

www.artyulia.com

A special thanks to Betsy Wills for pointing out Yulia's work to me!

Contact:e-mail: yulia@artyulia.com

If you like cut paper art, you cannot miss the amazing work of Peter Callesen and Helen Musslewhite

Kacper Hamilton's 7 Deadly Wine Glasses

7 hand-blown red wine glasses created to depict the 7 deadly sins. Designed by Kacper Hamilton of Hamilton design, each glass encapsulates a sin, which is revealed through the ritual of drinking.


Guttony:



Sloth:

Wrath:


Envy:


Greed:



Lust:


Pride:



Glasses are available individually, as a set of four or six (of the same glass), or as a complete set. The full set of all seven glasses comes in a mahogany box as shown below. Limited Edition of 25.



contact info for the designer:
Kacper Hamilton
kacperhamilton@mac.com
phone: +44 (0) 7957 441405


Buy the limited edition glasses separately or as a set from here as long as they are available.

Über Cool Cabinets: The Horizontals & Horizontals A-line Cupboards

The Horizontals, originally designed in 1999 by Shigeru Uchida for Pastoe, a high end furniture company in the Netherlands, are a series of wall-mounted cabinets that slide horizontally to reveal compartments made of aluminum and wood.




The bodies are available in two sizes and come standard dividers. The metal sliding doors can slide in two directions. The Horizontals can stand alone as design objects, and are suitable for the storage of CDs, etc. The bodies are in a natural or bog oak veneer, with a protective wax finish, and are attached to the wall by means of an invisible suspension system. The metal sliding doors are available in all Pastoe varnish colours.



set-up
Wall-mounted pieces consist of bodies on the wall with metal sliding doors.



finish
body: natural oak or bog oak with protective wax finish
metal sliding door: lacquer/gloss lacquered


The Horizontals A-line are the industrial version of the traditional Horizontals designed by Shigeru Uchida in 2003 for Pastoe.




The Cupboards, which are made entirely out of aluminium, consist of bodies with sliding doors. The sliding doors can be moved in two directions, creating a dynamic line effect within a magic square. The units are obtainable in two height sizes and are suitable for storing such items as CDs and DVDs. The bodies are attached to the wall using an invisible suspension system.



set-up:
Wall-mounted objects. The aluminium bodies have aluminium sliding doors that slide to the left and to the right. The CD elements are suitable for 84 CD's. The DVD elements are suitable for 65 DVD's.


finish:
bodies: available in natural and black anodised aluminium.
sliding doors: available in natural and black anodised aluminium.


Above: Japanese designer Shigeru Uchida

Shigeru Uchida's Studio 80
Pastoe

We've Heard Of Art As Currency, But What About Currency As Art?

My Money, My Currency by Hanna von Goeler

"My currency work originated in California, while I was studying at UC Davis. I was very interested in camouflage at the time. This interest led me to create my first paintings on dollar bills, between 1992-94, in which I camouflaged/painted images onto and into bills. A death in the family led me to the east coast, and faced with the costs of living in New York City on an artist’s budget, I continued to paint on money."

Below are the works from her My Currency series (click on the images to enlarge):


















The artist's site

"Even today, with the global financial crisis at hand and with political and cultural currencies vying for power, my currency series continues to engage me and feel relevant. This set of work (the 11 pieces shown below) is not a one-time statement about some aspect of money, but a continued exploration of money, currency and agency in my life. It’s a great privilege and joy to show a selection of this work in California, where the seeds for this project were nourished”

-- hanna von goeler

The following 11 pieces are each for sale at the HANG art gallery in San Francisco. You can also purchase them online here.











Purchase her currency works at HANG here.
HANG ART | 556 SUTTER ST. SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102

A bit about the artist:
Hanna von Goeler is primarily a conceptual and project based artist, who also explores her interests in smaller works and sketches. She received a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design and her MFA from the University of California, Davis. She completed additional post graduate study at the Jan van Eyck Academy in the Netherlands, a program which selects 25 participants annually from around the globe.

Hanna von Goeler’s ongoing currency project was selected by Robert Storr (former curator at the Museum of Modern Art, NYC and curator of the 2007 Venice Biennale) to be shown at Exit Art in New York City. Part of this series was also featured in the British publication “Another Magazine” as part of a special project highlighting Amercian artists. Five hundred pieces selected from her currency series will be shown as part of an upcoming solo show at the Hunterdon Museum of Art. In January of 2009, a solo exhibition in the Project Room at Sloan Fine Art in New York City, will feature a new installation.

You can add yourself to her mailing list here.

ARTechnic's Stunning Shell House: Exterior And Interior

Japanese architecture firm ARTechnic has designed and completed this unusual- but beautiful and minimalist- concrete ovoid home in Karuizawa, Japan. Built in two sections, around a fir tree, it is nestled in a forest and is as amazing inside as it is on the outside.





You can see how the two ovals are constructed around the fir tree:






And now, the interior, complete with curved banquets, wood built-ins and round skylights:











above photos provided by Nacasa & Partners Inc

If you wish to learn more, Rose Etherington has gone into great detail about the home on Dezeen, including floorplans, how the initial plans changed over time and building details here.

ARTechnic
TEL: 03-5768-8718
FAX 03-5768-8738
e-mail:info@artechnic.jp
www.artechnic.jp

Nasty Teacups & Erotic Homewares From Outlandish Creations

Outlandish Creations of the UK create ceramic and porcelain pieces for the home that are a tongue in cheek twist on tradition and eroticism. All the pieces are original and hand crafted. Some can be found at various boutiques and others can be commissioned directly from the artist.

Here are some of her more popular pieces:

The 'Salt & Pepper Cockshakers' are a tongue in cheek poke at the discerning entertainer. Beautifully made in slip cast stoneware these pieces are practical as well as being beautiful to the touch.




Buy the cockshakers here.

Tea Cups:


The 'Tea Cup & Saucer' is an antithesis to the typical 'tea set'. The cups and saucers have been slip cast, and the pictures or rude lettering has been added on in decal transfer after the second firing.

Cock n' Balls tea cup:

Whore and Wanker cups:

Bitch and Wanker tea cup set:


Buy the 'bitch' and 'wanker' tea cup set here.

Porcelain Riding Crops:


Riding crops signify dominance and submission, a secretive glance at a masochistic world, which intrigues as much as it entices. Katie is bringing to the foreground an unabashedly flirty, delicate and entirely coquettish object. In its fragility, being made in porcelain, it is impractical to use. One strike will break the crop.






Katie of Outlandish Creations is a designer and maker of high quality porcelain and stoneware ceramic slip cast items including lighting and ‘kitchenalia’. Katie's work has been created from conception to production and are unique one-off pieces. Her work is produced in Troubadour Studios, Falmouth under the ‘Outlandish Creations’ registered brand name and can be found at such erotic homewares shops as Impure Art and Coco de Mer

Please contact Katie if you wish to discuss a commission. All items can be made to order specifically to your technical requirements.

Erotic homewares turn you on?



Then you probably want to check out Randy Woods erotic pillows and homewares here.

Product Pick Of The Week: The Sema Table by Nurus

The Sema Table by Nurus:





The Sema small table series was designed by Alper Boler & Omer Unal for Nurus of Turkey.


above: Designers ömer ünal, 35 and alper böler, 33 of ünal & böler Studio (now operating as separate studios)




"sema" is the name given to the dance of the whirling dervishes which symbolizes the harmony and balance. Sema is a coffee table with a turning top and rotating bars below it which can be utilized in storing books, magazines and newspapers. It comes in various heights and sizes.







Awards:

The SEMA was a recipient of IF Design Award 2009, where 2,808 products from 39 countries competed. This is the 4th IF award for Nurus, the most ever won by a brand from Turkey.

Nurus website
Price is available upon request from the manufacturer.

If Old MacDonald Had An iPod: The iPig & iPanda

If Old MacDonald had an iPod, he'd probably listen to it on the iPig or the new iPanda docking stations. Cute, but powerful, these spherical docking stations pump out 25 watts of power, are compatible with various mp3 and mp4 players, music devices, gaming consoles and all iPods. They have wireless remotes and are made of green grade "A" eco friendly materials.



Made by Speakal, the iPig received great acclaim and reviews at the 2007 at the consumer electronics show and now, iPanda has joined his swine friend.

The iPig:




The Features of both the iPig and iPanda:

• Highly Compatible: The iPig is compatible with most iPod’s, MP3, MP4, Portable Game consoles (PSP, Nintendo DS), Gaming Consoles (PS2, PS3, Wii, Xbox, Xbox360), Portable and non portable CD and DVD players, Televisions, Personal Computers (Desktop and Laptops), Mobile Phones with Audio playing capabilities.

• Humanized Touch Volume Control:

Gently touch the right ear of the iPig to raise the volume and touch the Left one to lower the volume. This patented technology will only react to the human touch and will not be affected by temprature or humidity.

• High Quality Sound:

The iPig has a total of 5 speakers including a 4 in. subwoofer, with a total output of over 25 Watts of Raw, Undistorted, Clear Music. It also has a super Hi-Fi Amplifier, an interior dynamic airflow optimizer, and an interior dynamic cooling exchange system with high sound stabilization to produce a clear and powerful sound.

• iPOD Docking Station: Compatible with most of iPods. Dock your iPod, charge it and listen to your music without interruption.

• RF Remote Control:

One remote control to browse through the different iPOD features and to control the speakers’ Volume, treble and bass.

• Smiley Lit Mouth:

The mouth tells you right away by its light if the iPig is on or off. It also tells you whenever it receives a command from the remote control.

• Adjustable Bass Control:

Control the level of Base output from the knob control in the back of the iPig

• Bass Reflex Technology: Don’t just listen to the music but FEEL it with the Bass Reflex Technology Feel the amplification and output

• 360 Degrees Sound Spreading: The shape and the placement of the speaker of the iPig allows a 360 degree sound spreading, you will get the same quality of sound from each corner of the room

• Standard Mini Jack: A 3.5 mm stereo audio-in connection to connect with other audio and gaming devices

• GREEN and RoHS Compliant: The iPig is made of the top grade and environment friendly manufacturing materials. It has no hazardous materials.

• Colors: Professional formula of High-Gloss fashionable and shiny three colors: White, Yellow and Pink

• Multi Cradles: Fit your iPod with the correct cradle.

• Small Footprint: Complement your room. The iPig blends in as a decorative item that will sneak up on you with its wonderful sound quality

• Warranty: 1 year manufacture warranty. Warranty terms and conditions apply.



You can buy the iPig or the iPanda here for $129.99 and includes a 90 full days manufacturer’s warranty.

About Speakal Company.
Speakal Company specializes in high performance audio solutions. As the sole distributor of Amethyst products in North America, Speakal will continue to provide innovative audio products for years to come. Founded in 2006, Speakal Company is a privately held company based in Culver City, CA. For more information, please visit www.speakal.com.

Stephen Magsig's Postcards From Detroit & The Urban Alphabet Paintings, Now Available As Books

Above: 25 of stephen's individual letter paintings

I was happy to see that one of my favorite painters, Michigan artist Stephen Magsig, has compiled two book of his daily paintings; Postcards from Detroit and The Urban Alphabet.


Above: Stephen Magsig, Palace Detail, 2006, oil on canvas, 60" x 42"

Stephen, known for his photo-realism work of exteriors in oils, joined Daily Painters a little over a year ago and has had two beautiful series of works he's been creating simultaneously on a daily basis in small format works. One is "Postcards from Detroit", a collection of images, some urban, some suburban, and some rural, many seemingly abandoned and dilapidated -- all beautiful, if not a little eerie and lonely.

He sells these small paintings through Daily Painters and ebay and if you're not fast enough, or don't bid high enough, you won't get one of his 5" x 7", 7" x 5" or sometimes 5" x 5" renderings in oil on thick board. But if you do (and I'm lucky enough to have acquired three of them), you won't be disappointed.

His second series, is that of individual letters (some of which are shown at the beginning of this post), found on various signage - be it neon, painted or plastic- that he has painted in faithful reproductions with his beautiful painterly style (looser than his larger works). As a fan of these Letters from his Urban Alphabet series, I actually have purchased three of them; the A, The O and the K.

Now, much to my delight, Stephen has translated his daily painters work into book form, both the Postcards from Detroit series as well as his Urban Alphabet collection. Available on Blurb, you can choose from soft cover, hardcover with dust jacket or image wrap. A wonderful option for those of us who cannot afford his stunning large canvases available at either of the galleries that represent him.

Postcards from Detroit
Volume #1
Contains 80 pages of
paintings posted from
Aug 2007 -Dec 2007


Buy it here.


In the artist's own words:

Postcards from Detroit is a daily diary in small paintings by American artist Stephen Magsig. The inspiration came from Duane Keiser's innovative A Painting a Day blog, and Julian Merrow-Smith's Postcard from Provence. I am not new to daily painting. I started doing daily artwork, drawings, sketches, collage, polaroid images and paintings in 1987, and continue to work daily. Most of the work on this site will be Detroit based paintings. A visual diary of Detroit in paintings. I started to do paintings of Detroit more than 20 years ago, and continue to find inspiration in the place I call home. I will frequently post images of larger paintings that are available at the David Klein Gallery and the George Billis Gallery. Please contact them if you are interested in the larger paintings.

The Urban Alphabet
Paintings from Postcards from Detroit
By Stephen Magsig



Buy it here.

Below are a few examples of Stephen's large format oils, from the David Klein Gallery and the George Billis Gallery in New York, which I wish I could afford, but cannot:







About the artist:

Born in 1946, Steve studied at Ferris State College and the College for Creative Studies. As a painter he is really self taught, and has been painting for over 30 years. He's had more than 20 solo shows and numerous group shows. He currently shows with the George Billis Gallery in NY and LA and with with the David Klein Gallery in Birmingham, MI. His work is in over twenty corporate and museum collections and in hundreds of private collections. He lives and works with his artist wife, Janet Hamrick and their two studio cats, Artie and Bella, in Ferndale, Michigan. They also sublet a painting loft in New York City.

See his Daily Painters gallery here.
David Klein Gallery in Birmingham, MI
George Billis Gallery in NY
Magsig's Postcards From Detroit blog
Stephen Magsig on artnet